Systems are known to provide security in one or more predefined secured areas. Security in this case means the detection of threats to the safety of human occupants and/or assets within the secured area.
Threats may be posed from any of a number of different events, such as fire, natural gas, intruders, etc. In order to mitigate the potential damage caused by such threats, it is important to detect threats as early as possible.
Threats may be detected using any of a number of different technologies. For example, some systems may be based entirely upon the use of sensors on doors and windows leading into the secured area and/or the use of a number of fire and/or gas detectors distributed throughout the area.
While detection apparatus is effective is some cases, such apparatus cannot be used in all applications, particularly where large numbers of people are present such as an airport or in industrial applications where low level threats such as flames or the presence of gases part of a manufacturing process. In such cases, security may be supplemented with or substantially replaced with one or more surveillance cameras.
In many cases, the one or more security cameras may be coupled to a corresponding set of security monitors (displays) at a guard station. In this case, a human guard may constantly monitor the displays for indication of threats. The video from each camera may also be recorded via a network video recording system.
While such systems work well, a guard may not always notice a threat displayed on a monitor. Even when a threat is notice by a guard, the guard may not always have time or sufficient cognitive grasp of the situation to effectively optimize the cameras for display or recording of the threat. Accordingly, a need exists for better methods of displaying and recording such threats.